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GEN. LUCIUS F. HUBBARD 
 
Tributes to the Memory of 
 
 General 
 Lucius Frederick Hubbard 
 
 By the Commandery of the 
 State of Minnesota 
 
 Military Order of the Loyal Legion 
 April 8th, 1913 
 
 Committee 
 
 John Ireland 
 Henry A. Castle 
 Judson H. Bishop 
 
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Memorial Exercises 
 
 AT THE regular meeting and banquet of 
 the Commandery of the State of 
 Minnesota, MiUtary Order of the Loyal 
 Legion, held at the Ryan Hotel, Saint Paul, 
 on April 8th, 1913, the Committee, consisting 
 of Chaplain John Ireland, Captain Henry A. 
 Castle and General Judson W. Bishop, pre- 
 viously appointed by Commander Silas H. 
 Towler, made report, as follows: 
 
 General J. W, Bishop presented the fol- 
 lowing Resolutions, which, after the memorials 
 had been read, were adopted by a rising vote 
 of the Commandery: 
 
 Resolved by the Commandery of the State 
 of Minnesota, Military Order of the Loyal 
 Legion, that in the lamented death of Com- 
 panion Lucius Frederick Hubbard, late Briga- 
 dier General U. S. Volunteers, and former 
 Governor of Minnesota, this, Commandery 
 mourns the departure of a beloved companion, 
 and all the people of the State lose an illus- 
 trious citizen, whose services in war and in 
 peace have adorned the annals of the common- 
 wealth. 
 
 Resolved, that our deepest sympathies are 
 hereby extended to the widow and family of 
 our honored companion, with the assurance of 
 our abiding regard for his cherished memory. 
 Resolved, that the memorials herewith 
 presented be adopted and preserved in our 
 records as the tribute of this Commandery to 
 a worthy member, and that a copy thereof be 
 transmitted to Mrs. Hubbard. 
 
In Memoriam 
 
 Captain Henry A. Castle offered the following, which 
 was unanimously adopted by a rising vote: 
 
 UCIUS FREDERICK HUBBARD. 
 Brigadier General, U. S. Volunteers and 
 Governor of Minnesota, born January 
 26, 1836, at Troy, N. Y., and died February 
 5, 1913, at Minneapolis, Minnesota, was an 
 honored member of this Commandery, who 
 by his exceptionally distinguished military and 
 civil career rendered patriotic service to the 
 nation and conferred honor upon the state of 
 his adoption. His amiable character, his 
 sterling integrity and his unchallenged hero- 
 ism, commanded the affectionate admiration 
 of every companion and comrade who was 
 privileged to know him. The story of his 
 achievements will be a legacy to coming 
 generations of grateful Minnesotans. 
 
 General Hubbard was the eldest son of 
 Charles F. and Margaret (Van Valkenberg) 
 Hubbard. His paternal ancestor, George 
 Hubbard, settled in New England in the 
 seventeenth century. His maternal line was 
 of Holland extraction, his grandmother, Mar- 
 garet Van Cott, being a cousin of Martin Van 
 Buren. 
 
 Charles F. Hubbard died when his son 
 Lucius was three years old, his wife surviving 
 him for seven years, leaving the boy orphaned 
 at the age of ten. After a public school train- 
 ing and a three years' course at the Academy 
 in Granville, New York, Lucius F. Hubbard, 
 
at the age of fifteen began his self-supporting 
 experience. Having chosen the tinsmith's 
 trade, and served his apprenticeship, he 
 worked as a journeyman in Chicago for three 
 years, and in 1857 came to Minnesota. 
 
 He settled at Red Wing and decided to 
 engage in newspaper work. In 1859 he 
 established the Red Wing Republican and 
 made of it a successful enterprise which still 
 exists, one of many monuments to his versatile 
 activity. He was promptly recognized as a 
 force in the community; was elected Register 
 of Deeds for Goodhue County, and nominated 
 for state senator in 1 860, but defeated. 
 
 The outbreak of the war for the Union 
 changed his plans, arousing all his patriotic 
 impulses and soldierly instincts. He enlisted 
 as a private in the Fifth Minnesota Infantry, 
 December 19, 1861. He became Captain, 
 February 5, 1862; Lieutenant Colonel, March 
 24, 1862 and Colonel, August 31, 1862. On 
 December 16, 1864, he was brevetted Briga- 
 dier General for conspicuous gallantry in the 
 battle of Nashville, Tennessee. He cam- 
 manded a brigade for nearly two years and 
 participated in thirty-one engagements. He 
 was severely wounded in the battles of 
 Corinth and of Nashville, but in both cases 
 retained command until victory was assured. 
 General D. S. Stanley, in his official report, 
 made special mention of his brilliant conduct 
 at Corinth. After the battle of Nashville, 
 where Colonel Hubbard, then twenty-eight 
 years old, commanded a brigade, his division, 
 corps and army Commanders, Generals, John 
 McArthur, A. J. Smith and George H. Thomas 
 
united in a telegram to President Lincoln 
 highly complimenting his service and recom- 
 mending his promotion. Three horses were 
 killed under him in this battle, and his brigade 
 with fifteen hundred men, captured over two 
 thousand prisoners, nine pieces of artillery and 
 seven stands of colors. 
 
 General Hubbard was mustered out at 
 Mobile, Alabama, September 6, 1865. He 
 returned to Red Wing with impaired health, 
 after the restoration of which, in 1866, he 
 engaged successfully in the grain and milling 
 industries, and later in railway construction. 
 He built the Midland Railroad from Wabasha 
 to Zumbrota ; promoted the Minnesota Central 
 from Red Wing to Mankato, and built the 
 Duluth, Red Wing, and Southern Railroad, 
 which continued under his management until 
 1902. His useful business activities thus 
 royally supplemented his gallant war service, 
 and combined with his honorable achieve- 
 ments in civil administration to illustrate the 
 virtues of American citizenship. 
 
 He served the state in many conspicuous 
 and responsible positions. He was a member 
 of the Minnesota Senate from Goodhue 
 County from 1873 to 1877. He was elected 
 Governor of Minnesota in 1 88 1 . His five 
 years tenure of that exalted office was marked 
 by the enactment into law, on his recommen- 
 dation of many valuable state policies, among 
 which were railway control and grain inspec- 
 tion; also an effective organization of the 
 national guard. He retired from the executive 
 chair universally applauded, and the Legis- 
 lature named one of our prosperous counties 
 in his honor. 
 
General Hubbard's public spirit was mani- 
 fested by gratuitous service under numerous 
 appointments on important boards and com- 
 missions. Among such were those for the 
 investigation of the old state railroad bonds; 
 examination of the State's fiscal accounts; 
 arbitrations of disputes as to prison contracts; 
 the compilation of Minnesota's war records 
 and the administration of the State Soldier's 
 Home and Relief Fund. He was president of 
 the Soldier's Home Board at the time of his 
 death. 
 
 He was a vigorous public speaker when 
 occasion required, but always modestly 
 avoided public display when possible. He was 
 a clear and forcible writer. His executive 
 documents and his contributions to Minnesota 
 history are of exceptional value. 
 
 He was influential and unselfish in his 
 support of the Republican party. He was a 
 potent factor in advancing Cushman K. Davis 
 to the Governorship in 1873, and to the 
 Senatorship in 1887. From 1896 to 1900, he 
 was the member from this state of the Repub- 
 lican National Committee, having charge of 
 the Northwestern headquarters at Chicago 
 during the first McKinley campaign. 
 
 At the outbreak of the Spanish-American 
 War in 1898, General Hubbard promptly 
 tendered his services. He was appointed 
 Brigadier General of Volunteers and assigned 
 to the command of the third division, seventh 
 army corps, with headquarters at Jacksonville 
 and Savannah. In this capacity his youthful 
 army experience was of inestimable benefit in 
 promoting the discipline and efficiency of his 
 troops. 
 
General Hubbard was a comrade of Acker 
 Post, Grand Army of the Republic; a member 
 of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, 
 of the Sons of the American Revolution and 
 a Mason of the Knight Templar rank. He 
 was a charter member of the Minnesota Com- 
 mandery. Military Order of the Loyal Legion, 
 organized in 1883, and served as its comman- 
 der in 1899-1900. 
 
 On May 17th, 1868, General Hubbard was 
 married to Miss Amelia Thomas, a daughter 
 of Charles and Amelia Thomas, and a lineal 
 descendant of Sir John Moore. Their children 
 are: Charles F., Lucius V., and Julia, now 
 the wife of Captain Charles H. McGill. Until 
 1901 the family residence remained at Red 
 Wing. It was then located at Saint Paul. 
 After 1910 General and Mrs. Hubbard resided 
 in Minneapolis. 
 
 After his recovery from the ailments 
 brought on by his arduous Civil War service. 
 General Hubbard enjoyed good health during 
 the long decades of his active life, and literally 
 died with his harness on. On January 26th, 
 1913, his seventy-seventh birthday was quietly 
 observed with his family at Minneapolis. He 
 pursued his daily business routine until Feb- 
 ruary 4th. On the 5th he was slightly indis- 
 posed and late in the afternoon, he passed 
 peacefully away, as "One who wraps the 
 drapery of his couch around him and lies 
 down to pleasant dreams. " 
 
 The chivalrous, useful, beautiful life of 
 General Hubbard presented a rare combina- 
 tion of modest self-effacement, serene self- 
 poise, inherent strength of character, and 
 
generous intellectual endowments, which led 
 to success and supremacy in all the high fields 
 of endeavor to which he was called by the 
 mandates of destiny. He lived universally 
 respected and died universally mourned. 
 
A Tribute 
 
 To the Memory of 
 
 Gen. L. F. Hubbard 
 
 Archbishop John Ireland presented the following: 
 
 SURING one part of his career, I was 
 very close to Lucius F. Hubbard. I 
 was the chaplain of the Fifth Regiment 
 of the Volunteers of Minnesota, of which he 
 was the Colonel. Be it my privilege to tell of 
 him as I knew him, as I then admired and 
 loved him. 
 
 The tribute I offer tonight to the memory 
 of Lucius F. Hubbard is that of a true, loyal, 
 life-long friend. He merited my friendship in 
 the long ago by the superb qualities that were 
 his, as the man and as the soldier, by the many 
 and timely acts of courtesy and kindliness by 
 which I was personally honored, while under 
 his command. The friendship he so well 
 merited was given in grateful profusion: and, 
 to my joy and pride, in return his friendship 
 was not refused me, as oft and oft proofs 
 irrecusable gave testimony. As in the long 
 ago, around the camp-fire, on wearisome 
 march, on field of battle, so was it, along the 
 years, while he still walked the earth. Through- 
 out, in the many spheres of activity he 
 traversed, he was to me the man, the citizen, 
 the statesman, from whom it were a wrong 
 to withhold my esteem, and, however far 
 apart our daily journeyings, never did we 
 come together without plain evidences from 
 one to the other that we were in Minnesota 
 
one to the other the friends we had been in 
 our wanderings beneath the southern skies. 
 
 It was a wrench of the deep fibres of my 
 heart, when the fatal Hne was read — Death 
 of General Lucius F. Hubbard. A fortnight 
 before, we had sat together, in Minnesota's 
 Capitol, in front of the painting recently 
 unfolded on its wall, to commerorate the 
 charge of the Fifth Regiment in the battle of 
 Corinth, discoursing together of the happen- 
 ings of the great day, October 4th, 1862, so 
 glorious to him and to his men, and of its 
 important bearings upon the issue of the 
 Civil War — and so soon afterwards I was to 
 be made to realize that then I had seen him 
 for the last time on earth. 
 
 Companions, the old warriors are going 
 away. Can we but drop a tear, as one by one 
 they fall by the wayside, even though our 
 faith in a better world be vivid, and our souls 
 be joyous in the remembrance of the great 
 things done for America, while their step was 
 nimble and their arm strong? Can we but 
 most sorely sorrow, when the stricken ones 
 are those whose valor had preeminently opened 
 the way to our victories, whose virtues had 
 preeminently won to themselves our admira- 
 tion and our love? 
 
 In what to-night I say of Lucius F. Hub- 
 bard, I limit myself to two points — his 
 general character as a soldier and as a com- 
 mander, and the conspicuous part he played 
 in the battle of Corinth, October the 4th, 1862. 
 
 General Hubbard, the soldier and the 
 commander! I repeat what I often said to 
 himself. He had but one fault — a fault that 
 
told only against his personal interest — a 
 fault that in the service of fellow-servant and 
 of country is one of the noblest virtues. It 
 was this— When he himself was the issue, 
 when his own advancement to higher honor 
 and gain was in the scales of circumstances, 
 he was too modest, too retiring, too unaggres- 
 sive. Had he been less of all this, his place 
 on the scroll of rank and fame were far more 
 exalted than in fact the authority of the nation 
 had decreed it to be. Duty done, in fullness 
 of scope, in fullness of self-oblation — thither 
 was Hubbard's conscious, unwavering bend of 
 soul: there Hubbard ceased his effort, what- 
 ever else were to be given, whatever else were 
 to be held back. 
 
 Where, however, duty spoke, he was firm- 
 ness itself, aggressiveness itself — unflinching 
 in the maintenance of discipline among his 
 subalterns, undaunted in the rush to battle. 
 
 When Hubbard took command of the 
 Fifth Regiment, in succession to the retiring 
 Colonel, there was need in the regiment of a 
 firm, undeviating hand. It was there at once, 
 so soon as the eagle of colonelcy graced the 
 shoulders of Lucius F. Hubbard. At once all 
 felt that rule and obedience were the order of 
 the day. The master had come: discipline 
 reigned in the regiment, as later it reigned in 
 the brigade, when Hubbard had stepped into 
 higher responsibilities. 
 
 As to his bravery in battle, the one instance 
 of Corinth is all-sufficient evidence. 
 
 Hubbard was the master — but always the 
 quiet, self-possessed, dignified Hubbard. There 
 was in him an utter absence of the "fuss and 
 
feather" temper: nothing in him of the 
 tempestuous autocrat, nothing of the vain- 
 glorious braggart. His quietness of word and 
 of movement might for a moment be mistaken 
 for timidity and weakness, but for a moment 
 only. Soon his strength of temper was 
 visible, as it was soon felt: and this was only 
 the more solid in nature, and the more effective 
 in results, that it rested altogether on stable 
 qualities of mind and heart, and required, 
 indeed allowed, no extraneous propping of 
 bluster and parade. 
 
 And with all his strength of temper he was 
 most kind of heart, most tender of service. 
 The regiment was as his household, of which 
 he was the protector, the father. Around the 
 camp-fire he was the most genial of comrades: 
 near the fever-stricken, or the wounded 
 soldier, the most thoughtful and compassion- 
 ating of friends. At the close of the weary 
 march, his first occupation was the care of his 
 soldiers, that rations be issued, and, if possible, 
 tents be set up. His own comfort was the 
 later consideration, and in this he demanded 
 that all officers follow his example. Punish- 
 ments, now and then, had to be meted out: 
 but always justice was translucid: and where 
 the maintenance of order allowed, mercy 
 walked in the wake, so that culprits harbored 
 no rancor, rather were impelled to better ways. 
 The test of the commander is the esteem 
 and the affection of his soldiers. None 
 quicker than the soldier to discover unworthi- 
 ness and revile it with scorn, as none more 
 ready to recognize worthiness and reward it 
 with applause and loyal service. Well — the 
 
Fifth Regiment reverenced and loved Lucius 
 F. Hubbard — and to this fact was largely due 
 the obedience he received from them, the 
 instantaneous response elicited by word of 
 mouth, or waving of hand. Throughout the 
 Northwest, oft and oft, in the years succeed- 
 ing the Civil War, I was wont to meet Hub- 
 bard's soldiers, men of every social class, men 
 of every industrial calling, men of every tribe 
 and language — for as no other regiment from 
 Minnesota the Fifth was cosmopolitan in its 
 membership — always and from all it was a 
 query of love about Hubbard, a message of 
 pride and gratitude wafted to the address of 
 the Colonel. Few of his soldiers were alive 
 to hearken to the sad news — General Hubbard 
 is dead; but of these that were alive, not one 
 was there, I am sure, whose eye-lid did not 
 mioisten, as his lips quivered in a fond farewell. 
 
 One further word on the general character 
 of Hubbard, the man and the soldier. To me, 
 particularly, the chaplain of the Regiment, 
 belongs the privilege of speaking that word. 
 It is of his bearing, private and public, as a 
 Christian gentleman. In this he was beyond 
 reproach, a model to all, to officers and to 
 soldiers. This is high praise. I take deep 
 pleasure in speaking it. It is praise author- 
 ized by unchallanged fact. 
 
 I come to the battle of Corinth. There 
 conspiciously is seen Hubbard's bravery and 
 skill of leadership. What I tell of Hubbard 
 at Corinth is what I witnessed, what I remem- 
 ber today as clearly as if it were an incident 
 of yesterday, what substantially I reported in 
 a letter to the St. Paul Press, written a few 
 
days after the battle. It is, also, as to the 
 effect of the action of the Fifth in the battle, 
 what was told me more than once by General 
 Rosecrans, the commander of forces at Corinth 
 as years later I sought from him confirmation 
 of my own reminiscenses. 
 
 The Battle of Corinth occupies compara- 
 tively small place in histories of the Civil War. 
 The eye of writers is more readily filled with 
 numbers — number of men under arms, num- 
 ber of men killed or wounded. As a matter 
 of fact, in the philosophy of the war, Corinth 
 was a most important battle — and in it was 
 most important the part played by General 
 Hubbard and under his leadership by the 
 Fifth Regiment of the Volunteers of Minne- 
 sota. 
 
 Corinth was of exceptional value as a 
 strategic point. There two railroads crossed 
 — the Mobile & Ohio, leading northward to 
 the Ohio River and southward to the Gulf, 
 and the Memphis & Charleston, leading west- 
 ward to the Mississippi River and eastward 
 to the Atlantic Ocean. Either of the con- 
 tending armies occupying Corinth commanded 
 into all directions the field of warfare. 1 1 was 
 the first stronghold to be captured in a north- 
 ward movement of the Confederates. And a 
 northward movement was in the plan of the 
 Confederates. It was their ambition — and 
 wisely so on their part — to cross the border 
 line and fight the Union States within their 
 own latitude. That was the purpose of Lee, 
 when in July, 1863, he headed his forces 
 across the Potomac, along the road to Gettys- 
 burg. It was the purpose of Bragg, in his 
 
expedition into Kentucky, in August, 1862. 
 It was now in October, 1862, we may well 
 believe the purpose of Van Dorn and Price, 
 as they wended their way towards Corinth. 
 Corinth taken, Jackson alone, sixty miles 
 further northward, separated them from the 
 Ohio River. Jackson would quickly fall if 
 Corinth fell, and quickly afterwards the soil 
 of Illinois and of Indiana would bend beneath 
 the tread of the victorious Confederates. War 
 waged upon Union territory, the expectations 
 of the Confederacy would rise high. Sym- 
 pathizers of the rebellion would speak and act 
 more loudly. Loyalists would lose courage. 
 The nations of Europe would recognize the 
 new republic. 
 
 Rosecrans was in immediate command at 
 Corinth with about twenty- three thousand 
 men under his hand. Grant, who had recently 
 succeeded Halleck as chief commander of the 
 Army of the Tennessee, was entrenched in 
 Jackson. The enemy led by Van Dorn and 
 Price, as it was afterwards discovered, were, 
 in number, slightly inferior to the forces under 
 Rosecrans. 
 
 It was a solemn morning in Corinth, that 
 of October the 4th, 1862. Rosecrans was not 
 without fear. An adjutant from headquarters 
 rode to the Fifth to order Hubbard to deploy 
 one of his companies as skirmishers amid the 
 trunks and stumps of trees felled purposely 
 some time before to cut off the northern side 
 of the town from a dense forest in which an 
 approaching enemy would be sure to muster 
 for the attack. "Where is Rosecrans?" I 
 asked of the adjutant. "Flat on his knees. 
 
praying, in his tent, " was the answer. "What 
 of the day." "All right if Grant only keeps 
 his promise to have reinforcements here in 
 good time." As later it happened, reinforce- 
 ments, led by McPherson, arrived at Corinth 
 only at sundown on the 4th, when the day's 
 work had been done. 
 
 The men of the Fifth Regiment were the 
 sole occupants of the public square. They had 
 arrived there later in the evening of October 
 the 3rd, from a point four miles outside the 
 town, where they had been detained in guard 
 of a bridge, and where certainly they would 
 have been taken prisoners at day-break, had 
 not Lieutenant McGrorty, then in Corinth, 
 late in the afternoon concluded that they were 
 forgotten by Rosecrans, and obtained an 
 order, which he at once carried to Hubbard, 
 that they hasten into town. The square was 
 closed to the west by the tracks of the Mobile 
 and the Ohio Railroad, to the south by the 
 Tishamingo Hotel, then used as a hospital, 
 to the north and east by rows of stores and 
 residences — a street opening southward and 
 northward along the east side. Arms were 
 stacked close to the railroad tracks — to our 
 front the open square, behind us an unbroken 
 field, and, at some distance but plainly in 
 sight. Forts William and Robinette. 
 
 The early hours of the morning were given 
 over to rather light essays of artillery from one 
 army to the other. At nine o'clock the grand 
 advance was ordered by Van Dorn and Price 
 from the forest north of the town. It was 
 made in two divisions, one directly north of 
 the square, the other farther westward oppo- 
 
site Fort Robinette. The division, directly 
 north of the square, was the first to attack 
 the Federal lines. The other division emerged 
 from the forest a half hour later. Of what 
 was happening north of the square, the men 
 of the Fifth had no knowledge — stores and 
 residences hiding from their view all opera- 
 tions. Quite different, however, with the 
 attack of the second division. We had it 
 plainly under our eyes from the very outset — 
 the magnificent rush of the Texan Rangers 
 from the cover of the forest, across the masses 
 of stumps and trunks of trees, to the parapets 
 of Fort Robinette, whence, the brave leader 
 Colonel Rogers having fallen in death, they 
 were driven back by the defenders of the Fort 
 with fearful slaughter amid their ranks. The 
 men of the Fifth were lustily shouting victory, 
 when suddenly their attention was wrested to 
 a strange spectacle on the east side of the 
 square — the rush of the fleeing Federal artil- 
 lery, the rush of the fleeing Federal infantry, 
 and as those hurried out of the square further 
 into the town, the rush of the Confederates 
 in hot pursuit. 
 
 The fight to the north of the square had 
 been fierce, both sides losing heavily. In 
 spite of the desperate resistance on the part 
 of the Federals, the center of their line was 
 penetrated, the First Missouri Artillery in 
 charge of the redan to the west and east of 
 which the Federal army swung its battalions, 
 limbered up and galloped off in wild confusion 
 towards the town, killing several of the nearby 
 Ohio regiments and scattering the remainder. 
 Price's troops followed, and now were racing 
 
into the town, along the street which opened 
 into the north-east corner of the square. 
 
 It was Hubbard's moment. Just as the 
 fugitives were first coming into sight an order 
 reached him — "Support the battery," a wave 
 of the hand indicating where the battery was 
 supposed to be when the bearer of the order 
 had left headquarters. But now the battery 
 — or so much of it as was able to run— was in 
 flight, beyond possibility of support, beyond 
 the reach of the Fifth. Hubbard was in 
 presence of the in-rushing Confederates, aban- 
 doned to his own counsel and initiative. He 
 was equal to the emergency. 
 
 Instantly, so soon as the Confederates 
 appeared, Hubbard with sharp and fearless 
 clamor brought the Fifth into line, faces 
 straight to enemy. A minute of delay would 
 have allowed the men to think and perhaps 
 to tremble. Then — "Aim" — "Hold fire." It 
 was supreme presence of mind. The purpose 
 was to wait until the north end of the square 
 had a full complement of the enemy. Next — 
 "Fire;" and every rifle told of carnage. 
 Then — "Advance"; and Hubbard in the saddle, 
 right to the front, waving madly his sword, 
 the men of the Fifth charged the enemy, who 
 in dismay rushed backward, arresting the 
 advance of the whole invading column and 
 throwing it in its entirety into disorder and 
 flight. The Fifth continued in pursuit firing 
 and bayonetting, until the redan was reached, 
 and the enemy were across the abattis, close 
 to the forest from which they had first 
 emerged. As back the enemy flew, regiments 
 and batteries, heretofore in confusion, rallied, 
 
and helped in the rout. But the work was 
 done — done by Hubbard and Minnesota's 
 noble Fifth; the enemy were repulsed from 
 the town; their backward flight was an 
 accomplished fact. What rallying regiments 
 and batteries did, was to help in making the 
 flight more hasty and more complete. 
 
 Shortly before, the attack on Fort Robi- 
 nette had failed. Both divisions of the Con- 
 federates were beaten hard. The battle of 
 Corinth was won. 
 
 If the entrance of the Confederates into 
 the town through the square had continued, 
 the Federals, on the outskirts, were taken 
 between two firing lines, at a disastrous 
 disadvantage. The day, we may well believe, 
 was lost. But the Confederates did not enter 
 the town. Hubbard and the gallant Fifth 
 arrested their inward march. The Fifth was 
 the only regiment in the inside of the town. 
 They failing, none others were there to avert 
 defeat. And the fate of the Fifth was in 
 Hubbard's hands. If the Fifth did not take 
 fright or waste powder in desultory shooting, 
 credit must be given to Colonel Hubbard. It 
 was his coolness, his presence of mind, his 
 sternness of command, that averted danger. 
 It was his leadership in the charge that brought 
 every rifle, every bayonet into immediate 
 and unhesitating action. The victory of 
 Corinth was the victory of Lucius F. Hubbard. 
 
 But how strangely at times history is 
 written! "The Photographic History of the 
 Civil War" has this account of the scene on 
 the square of Corinth: "The storming Con- 
 federates advanced to the north side of the 
 
square and posted themselves around a house 
 where General Halleck had maintained his 
 headquarters the summer before. Two field 
 pieces opened upon them, and the daring 
 southerners were whirled back." Two field 
 pieces! There was at the time no field piece 
 in or near the square. And if at a later 
 moment the fugitives of the First Missouri 
 Artillery had rallied and fired, their canister 
 would have struck only the men of the Fifth, 
 who had so quickly leaped into the pursuit.. 
 Must I say it? The official report of the 
 Battle of Corinth made by General Rose- 
 crans, is a puzzle. He writes — that Price's 
 columns having penetrated the square, "they 
 were greeted by a storm of grape from a 
 section of Immell's battery, soon to be re- 
 enforced by the Tenth Ohio, which sent them 
 whirling back, pursued by the Fifth Minne- 
 sota, which advanced on them from their 
 position near the depot." Shall we say that 
 Immell's battery and the Tenth Ohio riddled 
 the invading columns at some other point of 
 the field, at some other moment of time, 
 probably when the columns were near the 
 redan in their backward flight, or that when 
 writing hurriedly his report — constructed from 
 the several reports of subaltern commanders 
 Rosecrans unconsciously allowed his pen to 
 fall into some confusion. The charge of the 
 Fifth was almost instantaneous. There was 
 no room for a discharge of the guns of a bat- 
 tery without a slaughter of the Fifth. When 
 in later years, I discussed with General Rose- 
 crans the incidents of the battle, I had no 
 knowledge of the passage in his official report, 
 
and, consequently, did not ask for an expla- 
 nation. 
 
 General Stanley in his report makes no 
 specific mention of the square. He says, 
 however, of the Fifth: "At this instant I 
 sent the Fifth Minnesota to attack the flank 
 of the Second Column of the enemy. " (General 
 Hubbard asserts that the order sent to him 
 was to support the battery which by the time 
 he received the order was in flight) General 
 Stanley adds to the address of the Fifth: "I 
 am happy to bear testimony to the gallant 
 fight of this little regiment, commanded by 
 Colonel Hubbard. Few regiments on the field 
 did more effective killing than they. " Stanley 
 makes no mention of Immell's battery or of 
 the Tenth Ohio, spoken of by Rosecrans. 
 
 Colonel Hubbard's own report gives the 
 facts as I have rehearsed them, omitting, 
 however, as was to be expected from him, 
 direct allusion to such personal acts, as should 
 have reflected special credit upon him. 
 
 The morning after the battle the Fifth was 
 in the line of march, in pursuit of the fleeing 
 enemy. Stanley rode past it, accompanied 
 by another officer. "This is a small regiment" 
 said the latter. Stanley smiled in reply: 
 "They may be small in number, but they 
 gained the day." I was one of those who 
 heard from him those words, as also these 
 others, spoken as he pointed out the Fifth to 
 Rosecrans: "Here is the regiment that did 
 the most killing." 
 
 Many years later I conversed with Rose- 
 crans, when he was Congressman, in Wash- 
 ington — and on several occasions, as we 
 
together rehearsed the incidents of the battle 
 of Corinth, he said deHberately and clearly: 
 "The Fifth Minnesota saved the day." 
 
 Corinth saved, the Confederate advance 
 upon Jackson was arrested; the invasion of 
 the Union territory north of the State of 
 Tennessee was arrested. Corinth saved, a 
 stronghold remained in the possession of the 
 Federal forces, from which the country bor- 
 dering on two far-reaching lines of railroad 
 was easily protected, from which, as a basis, 
 incursions southward and eastward into vital 
 points of the Confederacy could readily be 
 attempted; the road to Vicksburg was open 
 to the army of Grant. 
 
 Minnesota has done well in placing upon 
 the wall of its Capitol a painting of the Fifth 
 Minnesota charging in the square of Corinth 
 the invading Confederate column — and it was 
 truth that guided the pencil of the artist in 
 portraying as the hero of the painting Lucius 
 F. Hubbard — the hero of the square of Corinth 
 on the great day, October the 4th, 1862. 
 
 This my tribute to my commander and 
 friend, Lucius F. Hubbard. I am glad I am 
 allowed to tell it to his companions of the 
 Loyal Legion. Lucius F. Hubbard, farewell! 
 
PUBLISHED WITH THE 
 
 COMPLIMENTS OF 
 CHARLES H. MCGILL 
 
 I cooteyMcompany I 
 
 *»N»tAP0U9 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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